Fisheries Report Disputed

Va. Statistics Said To Be Outdated

Last year wasn't such a bad year for Virginia's commercial fishermen after all.

Revenue generated by commercial fishing in Virginia declined about 7 percent between 1995 and 1996, according to the latest figures from the National Marine Fisheries Service.

That's significantly better than the 20 percent decline the fisheries service reported earlier in the week. The higher estimate was based on outdated figures contained in a published report released Thursday, said fisheries service statistician David Sutherland. The more up-to-date numbers are found on the fisheries service Web site.

Virginia fishermen earned $107.9 million from their catch in 1996, down from $116.5 million in 1995, the fisheries service says. Higher seafood prices kept the decline from being worse. Seafood landings in Virginia dropped by nearly 15 percent, to 665.4 million pounds, during the same time period.

Overall, revenue from commercial fishing along the East Coast from Florida to Maine dropped 10 percent in 1996, to $1.2 billion.

The fisheries service blamed some of the decline in the mid-Atlantic region on a downturn in the 1996 menhaden catch. Menhaden, a non-edible species used for meal and oil, account for the largest share of fish landed in Virginia by weight.

But a two-year snapshot of the menhaden fishery can be misleading, said John Barnes III, vice president of Ampro Fisheries Inc. of Reedville, one of two menhaden fish companies in the state. Barnes said 1995 was an unusually good year for menhaden boats in Chesapeake Bay, while 1996 was ``just a reasonable year.''

Meanwhile, the value of edible seafood landings in Virginia declined about 6 percent in 1996, said Rob O'Reilly, assistant fisheries chief at the Virginia Marine Resources Commission. Virginia fishermen earned $69.6 million from such landings in 1996, compared with nearly $74 million in 1995, O'Reilly said.

Some of the state's seafood staples contributed to the overall decline. Revenue from sea scallops, the top moneymaker for Virginia fishermen, dropped 14 percent in 1996, to $24.2 million, according to the marine resources commission.

And even though Virginia watermen caught 5 percent more blue crabs by weight in 1996, revenue from blue crabs declined 5 percent because of lower prices.

While fishing income in Virginia 1996 was down from 1995, it was up compared with 1994, when fishermen earned $102.2 million, according to the fisheries service. That kind of inconsistency is typical of the fishing business, where the abundance of a given species can vary from year to year, O'Reilly said.

FISH STORY

Commercial fisheries revenue and weight in 1996 and 1995 for the East Coast - from Florida to Maine - in millions of dollars and millions of pounds:

1996 1995

(millions) (millions)

Revenue Weight Revenue Weight

($) (lbs.) ($) (lbs.)

Maine $201.6 237.6 $216.6 231.5

Massachusetts $173.7 222 $218.9 212.8

VIRGINIA $107.9 665.4 $116.5 779.4

North Carolina $102.7 191 $109.5 180.8

New Jersey $94 179.3 $95.3 177.1

New York $83.5 56.7 $81.5 58.1

Rhode Island $70.7 137.5 $70.7 126.9

Florida $66.2 50.6 $66.1 37

Maryland $53.6 70.5 $61.9 71.2

Connecticut $48.4 19.1 $50.7 19.8

South Carolina $24.2 15.9 $37.9 24.5

Georgia $21.6 13.6 $34.3 22.1

New Hampshire $13.5 11.1 $14.9 12.7

Delaware $4.3 5.7 $8.9 10.3

Total $1,066 1,876 $1,184 1,965

* The correct statistics can be found at the Web site of the National Marine Fisheries Service at http://kingfish.ssp.nmfs.gov